It's about Time

So...How is life, you might ask? Let me tell you.

I haven't properly updated my blog for about three weeks now. In that time so much has happend. My parents visited, which was great.  Fraser and I picked them up from Edinburgh airport the Wednesday they flew in.  Fraser was very afraid of meeting them, since I guess his family takes meeting your significant other’s parents to be a sign of commitment in a long-term kind of way, not to say that he isn’t committed, he is very very committed, but, I guess it’s a cultural thing done only if one intends to marry that person.  So...he was nervous, but once he met them I think his nerves calmed down a bit.  I was surprised.  By the end of my parents’ stay my dad was kidding around with Fraser, buddying up to him and treating him like he would treat Carly, Keeley, or me.  Maybe he wishes he could have a son and Fraser is the closest he can get to that at the moment so...he felt like he wanted to include him in the fun.  It was really nice to see my dad treat Fraser that way.  He hasn’t done that with anyone else I’ve dated before.  It meant a lot to me to have him initiated, so to speak, into the family.

Well, when my parents got there we drove back to Stirling, got a little lost using Fraser’s friend’s GPS system, but eventually we got back.  We took them to the City Walls for lunch.  Both my parents were knackered, as they say here - utterly exhausted!  But it was a good idea to keep them awake for as many hours as possible, just so they could get acclimated to the time change.  After that we visited Stirling castle, walked around town, then took them back to the hotel to get some rest.  Later in the evening we went to dinner at a restaurant outside the castle then headed to a pub to listen to Scottish music.  It was a lot of fun.  

The next day they had time to walk around Stirling by themselves, as Fraser and I both had classes throughout the day.  My parents ended up walking around eight miles around Stirling, eventually winding up at the Wallace monument.  I met them after that excursion and took them around campus.  We then went into town.  My mom and I shopped while Fraser and my dad went running.  Then we went to dinner.  

Friday we didn’t do much.  I think we stayed around Stirling again.  Fraser and I went salsa dancing with the International Society - a very hilarious experience for both of us, I have to say.  Fraser kept joking the whole time about the dance moves and I couldn’t help laughing because of it.  Then we got some help from one of the instructors, help which wasn’t welcomed in Fraser’s eyes.  He had to dance with the woman and be taught how to do the dance moves.  But I had a great time despite the winding up.  I loved it.  It’s so great to dance with him, even if he doesn’t particularly like the dancing.  

Saturday my parents and I went to Edinburgh for the day.  It rained during the train ride from Stirling to Edinburgh, but cleared up once we were at the castle.  The weather otherwise was very cold and windy, but at least the sun showed.  

Sunday we went to Glasgow.  The rain once again appeared in the forecast, and it stayed.  It poured the entire time we were in Glasgow.  Luckily Fraser gave us directions to some of the malls, one of which wasn’t far from the train station, so we spent most of our time there.  My mom and I enjoyed it, but I think my dad wanted to leave the second he stepped on the escalator.

We spent a good hour of our time in a bookstore near Fraser’s work, then headed to his shop to meet him at 5.  The four of us went to Di’Maggio’s for dinner.  We then headed back to Stirling, dropped my parents off at their hotel, and promised to meet them the following morning at 6am to take them back to Edinburgh airport.  

This time we didn’t get too lost.  We had the GPS system going but the woman wouldn’t say much once we got on the motorway.  Once we arrived at the airport we parked in one of the car parks, got my parents’ bags, said our goodbyes.  I was sad to see them leave, but glad that they had a good time.  I really wished Carly and Keeley could have been there to see all the sights.  Maybe some other time...I can't believe they were actually here. It was a surreal experience.

The days following their visit marked the time to buckle down. I had to write a Shakespeare essay for the following Friday, the day before mid semester break. I hadn’t started it by the time my parents left, and I was beginning to feel I couldn’t pull off a good grade with only one week to write.  Despite the fact I was pulling my famous Kristen-freakout-over-homework-session, Fraser and I took Wednesday to go to a ceilidh with the International Society. It was great! We got dressed up - something I just can't resist doing if given the opportunity.  Beforehand we went to dinner with our friend Kyle from Michigan, then the three of us headed toward the place where the ceilidh was held.  We were a little late - about half an hour late - but the dance went on til 11 or so so it was no big deal.  We were able to join in most of the dances.  It was a lot of fun.  I definitely think ceilidhs are among my most favorite of the Scottish traditions.

That Friday I skipped my religion lecture to go to Fraser’s house for the night.  His mom was giving me a ride to the airport in the morning since Fraser had to work.  Saturday to Tuesday I visited Tess and her family in Sweden. Tess was Carly, Keeley, and my au pair the year when we moved from Mukwonago to California. I hadn’t seen her and her husband for six years.  Back then the only daughter I had met was 6 months old.  Now she has two girls, one three and one six.  They are adorable kids.  The only disconcerting and somewhat frustrating part of the visit was the fact I couldn’t communicate with them.  The only English they knew were the numbers 1 to 11.  I loved hearing them count, though.  It was really precious.  At the end of my stay I had them saying (even though they didn’t really understand what I said) “Give me five!”  and “Woah!”  Overall, her family was wonderful.  It is so comforting to see her and her husband raise such great children.  They are sweet.  Yeah, sometimes one of the other would put up a tantrum, but overall they were happy kids.  A happy family.  In my observations, I found myself wanting a family like that of my own some day.  Hah, many, many, many, many days from now, but...some day.

I spent the rest of my mid-semester break with Fraser and his family in Glasgow.  Fraser’d taken off work for the rest of the week, excepting the weekend, so we were able to spend a lot of time together.  It was really nice.  We spent Wednesday in Glasgow, went to lunch at a little Italian restaurant and then saw Burn After Reading in their five-story cinema.  It was pretty impressive - the building, that is - and the movie was ok.  I would classify it as a dark comedy, pretty good, funny, but with a twist.

Thursday we went to Linlithgow palace.  Linlithgow is a small town just outside Edinburgh.  The palace was nice.  It reminded me of Doune castle, the place where Monty Python was filmed.  Same carved-out insides, though sandy-colored, and with more steps.  It was pretty cold that day, and very windy, so after that Fraser and I stopped at a cafe for lunch/hot drinks.  The cafe was pretty busy, but had good service.  We were eating within thirty minutes of sitting down.  Then we took the train back to Glasgow and stayed with his family.

Friday we went back to Stirling to put laundry away and get things organised for the coming week.  We stayed in the chalets and decided to head back to Glasgow Saturday morning.  Well, Fraser went to work early Saturday and I stayed in Stirling to get some stuff done, set on meeting him after he finished working.  I caught a train around 3:30 and got into Glasgow around 20 past 4, so I had plenty of time to kill.  Rather than traipsing around Glasgow trying to find his shop - although I had a pretty good idea where it was - I got a cup of hot chocolate and read Shakespeare.  

He met me at the station about an hour later and the two of us made our way back to his house.  His parents were hosting a joint birthday party/house warming party (they spent last summer adding on to their kitchen and this was to welcome in the new addition to the family, so to speak).  His entire family was invited - both sets of grandparents, some cousins, aunts, and uncles - as well as some family friends.  I was more than a little nervous.  This was the first time I ever met his extended family.  In America, meeting the extended family is a bigger deal than meeting the parents, and I just wondered how his family would perceive me, whether or not they would like me.

Well, I didn’t really have to worry that much.  People talked to me.  I especially loved his dad’s parents.  They are great people, very sarcastic and flamboyant - at least his gran is that way.  His mom’s parents were calmer, nice too, but not as much fun.  I also played pool against Fraser and then against his cousin Heather.  She is the only girl grandchild on that side of the family, so us girls needed to stick together - form a bond of some sort.  

I had a lot of fun meeting his family.  I really felt part of it, a kind of crazy concept considering I just met them and vice versa.

Sunday I spent my time at Fraser’s house.  He had to go to work, so it was me with his family.  They slept in til around 11, so I had some time to just hang around the house by myself.  Tried to get Shakespeare read, then stayed online for a while.  Not a horrible way to spend the day.  

Later in the evening his family and I boarded the car and headed into Glasgow to do some shopping and then meet Fraser.  His mom and I went to one of the grocery stores to get food for him, then we met his brothers and his dad in a music store.  Fraser got off work on time and met us there as well, then the two of us got back into his car and headed to his house.  We ate dinner with his family then waited around a few hours, Skyping with Carly and Keeley, until 9:30.  

We had to pick up two girls - both Americans - from the airport.  Their flight arrived around 11:30 so we had to be there in time to pick them up.  After cruising around trying to find a petrol station (we did find one eventually) we headed to the airport.  Their flight arrived earlier than expected, but we were ready to greet them by the time they got through customs and came into the arrival area.

The four of us made our way back to Stirling, arriving there around 2am.  Needless to say, we were very tired.  I didn’t go to my 9am class - got some sleep instead, but I wasn’t too worried since that was the first time I missed.

Well...that brings us to this week.  Not too much has gone on.  Fraser and I have spent most of the days in the computer labs writing papers, working on presentations, or talking to various people online.  It is approaching crunch time for the end of the semester.  We only have around four weeks left.  I think that is insane!  FOUR WEEKS?  How does time go by so quickly?  Six weeks left until the study abroad semester ends completely (we have two weeks for exams).  I can’t believe how fast this semester has gone by.  I don’t want to think of going home.  I am going to miss it here too much.  Well, for now I am enjoying every moment of life.  Trying not to get too worried about essay or exams or anything, just going with the flow.  It’s a good mentality to have, I think.  

Well, that’s all for now.  I’ll write again hopefully several times before the semester is finished.